Contents

Etymology

The English "cumin" derives from the Old Englishcymen (or Old Frenchcumin), from Latincuminum,[2] which is the latinisation of the Greek κύμινον (kuminon),[3] cognate with Hebrew כמון (kammon) and Arabic كمون (kammun).[4] Forms of this word are attested in several ancient Semitic languages, including kamūnu in Akkadian.[5] The ultimate source is the Sumerian word gamun.[6] The earliest attested form of the word κύμινον (kuminon) is the Mycenaean Greekku-mi-no, written in Linear B syllabic script.[7]

Description

Cumin is the dried seed of the herb Cuminum cyminum, a member of the parsley family. The cumin plant grows to 30–50 cm (0.98–1.6 ft) tall and is harvested by hand. It is an herbaceousannual plant, with a slender branched stem 20–30 cm tall. The leaves are 5–10 cm long, pinnate or bipinnate, thread-like leaflets. The flowers are small, white or pink, and borne in umbels. The fruit is a lateral fusiform or ovoidachene 4–5 mm long, containing a single seed. Cumin seeds resemble caraway seeds, being oblong in shape, longitudinally ridged, and yellow-brown in color, like other members of the Umbelliferae family such as caraway, parsley and dill.

History

Cumin Seeds

Cumin has been in use since ancient times. Seeds excavated at the Syrian site Tell ed-Der have been dated to the second millennium BC. They have also been reported from several New Kingdom levels of ancient Egyptian archaeological sites.[8]

Originally cultivated in Iran and Mediterranean region, cumin is mentioned in the Bible in both the Old Testament (Isaiah 28:27) and the New Testament (Matthew 23:23). The ancient Greeks kept cumin at the dining table in its own container (much as pepper is frequently kept today), and this practice continues in Morocco. Cumin was also used heavily in ancient Roman cuisine. During the Middle Ages, cumin fell out of favour in Europe, except in Spain and Malta. It was introduced to the Americas by Spanish and Portuguese colonists. There are several different types of cumin but the most famous ones are black and green cumin which are both used in Persian cuisine.

It has since returned to favour in parts of Europe. Today, it is mostly grown in Iran, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Morocco, Egypt, India, Syria, Mexico, Chile, and China. The plant occurs as a rare casual in the British Isles, mainly in southern England, but the frequency of its occurrence has declined greatly. According to the Botanical Society of the British Isles' most recent Atlas, there has been only one confirmed record since 2000.

Cultivation

Cuminum cyminum Linn.

Cultivation of cumin requires a long, hot summer of 3–4 months, with daytime temperatures around 30 °C(86 °F); it is drought-tolerant, and is mostly grown in Mediterranean climates. It is grown from seed, sown in spring, and needs fertile, well-drained soil.

Although cumin seeds contain a relatively large percentage of iron, extremely large quantities of cumin would need to be consumed for it to serve as a significant dietary source (see nutrition data).

1tbsp of cumin spices contains the following nutritional information according to the USDA:[10]

Calories: 22

Fat(g): 1.34

Carbohydrates(g): 2.63

Fibers(g): 0.6

Protein: 0.25

Confusion with other spices

Black Cumin seeds

Cumin is sometimes confused with caraway (Carum carvi), another umbelliferous spice. Cumin is however hotter to the taste, lighter in color, and larger. Many European languages do not distinguish clearly between the two though. Many Slavic and Finno-Ugric languages referring to cumin as "Roman caraway". Examples include Czech: kmín – caraway, římský kmín -cumin; Polish: kminek – caraway, kmin rzymski – cumin; Hungarian: kömény – caraway, római kömény – cumin. Finnish: kumina – caraway, roomankumina – cumin, although sometimes also called juustokumina, cheese caraway. In Swedish and Norwegian, caraway is called kummin while cumin is spiskummin, from the word spise, to eat, while in German, Kümmel stands for caraway and Kreuzkümmel denotes cumin. In Icelandic, caraway is kúmen, while cumin is kúmín. In Romanian, chimen is caraway, while chimion is cumin.